Now You Know How I Felt After you Cashed in on Me at Wrestlemania
by wencho17
Summary: Nine seconds. That's all it took for Seth Rollins to go from being world champion again, to becoming nothing more than a footnote in Dean Ambrose's redemption story. And all because of a stupid briefcase which as it turns out, is much less fun when you're not the one using it. Seth/Roman one-shot. Shield-centric. Forever believing in the Shield!


**The inspiration for this story is simple: "Now you know how I felt after you cashed in on me at Wrestlemania."**

 **Enjoy and as always, let me know your thoughts!**

Nine freakin' seconds.

That's how long it took for the bell to ring, for Dean Ambrose to hit just one Dirty Deeds and for the referee to count 1-2-3 while Seth Rollins lay with his shoulder on the mat, unable to kick out after the absolute brutal beating he took at the hands of Roman Reigns.

Nine seconds for his second title reign to end before it even had the chance to begin.

It wasn't fair. Seth had done exactly what he was supposed to do. He gave the match of his life and defeated Roman cleanly. He defeated the champ as he said he would. He regained the title he never rightfully lost.

That should have been it. He should have been the one with his hands raised, having the time of his life in Las Vegas, celebrating what should have been his second reign with the WWE World Heavyweight championship, his championship, and the first, quite frankly, that he won in what would be considered a fair fight.

But that wasn't the case. No sooner did Mike Chioda put the belt in his hands that a certain familiar theme hit. Before Seth knew it, Dean was cashing in the case he won barely 30 minutes prior, winning a match that should never have even been happening, hitting Seth with a move he would have been able to kick out of every single time if not for the 25+ minute war he had just endured.

And that was how the night ended. Seth, in the ring looking absolutely flabbergasted, Roman on the outside with an unreadable expression, and Dean, a smile worth a million bucks, standing at the top of one of the ladders by the titontron, belt raised high above his head.

That was supposed to be HIS moment. Those were supposed to be HIS cheering fans. But no, Dean had to once again insert himself into business that had nothing to do with him. All because five other apparently incompetent superstars couldn't keep the lunatic from grabbing the briefcase in the first place.

Dean's words were still ringing in his ears.

 _Or, what if I climb that ladder, win the Money in the Bank briefcase and whether it's you, or whether it's you, I cash in my shot and become world heavyweight champion._

Seth couldn't help but sigh. He completely dismissed that assertion when Dean made it. He didn't believe for a second that the man who had a history of not being able to get it done, who was always destined to be the eternal second and the forgotten member of the Shield, would ever actually win. He just didn't consider it a realistic possibility but rather an illusion of grandeur from a man who was self-professed to be not 100 percent right in the head.

But there was no denying that music. That sound of a revving motorcycle that in that second made Seth's stomach churn. He tried to leave the ring, maybe in an attempt to ruin Dean's moment by getting counted out or disqualified, but nope. His body betrayed him. It just had no energy left. One Dirty Deeds later and it was over.

He was now a footnote. He was the guy who at 47 seconds would go down as having the shortest title reign in WWE history. That was somewhat ironic given he was closing in on the longest reign with the championship before his knee decided to give out in Dublin, Ireland.

But that wasn't the only part of this whole thing that was laughable in the worst possible way. After all, Seth's first title reign began exactly the same way his second one had ended. It was courtesy of Money in the Bank, a stipulation he had gone from loving to hating.

Seth remembered the jubilation when he won the briefcase, in a match where Dean was there too. But he came out on top as he did every time he and Dean clashed following the break-up of the Shield. Whether it was their brutal, borderline perilous Hell in a Cell match or last year's bout at Money in the Bank when the title just slipped from Dean's grasp, Seth always came out on top. Why did this time have to be different?

He held his Money in the Bank until Wrestlemania and used it to execute the greatest cash-in in the history of the briefcase. It was his Wrestlemania moment and it was the best of his career. Last night was the second best until Dean took advantage of his weakened state, until Dean stole the title from him.

And it wasn't the first time. Dean was nothing but a thief. He took Seth's briefcase and tried to sabotage it. He took Seth's championship title and paraded it around New Orleans. And last night, he took his title again, only to parade it around Las Vegas. The only difference was that this time, Dean wasn't going to be made to give back what he took. Because he had obtained it legally thanks to a stupid briefcase and an even more stupid ladder match.

Thanks a lot, Chris Jericho.

"This is bull shit!" Seth screamed as he threw his phone against one of the lockers, sick of reading tweets about how the former hound finally got his karmic justice.

His phone predictably shattered but at that moment Seth didn't care. The only thing he cared about was his rematch clause which he knew he was still owed even if he did only hold the championship for 47 seconds.

He'd immediately ask for it on Monday's Raw and once again, he'd prove to Dean that he was the better of the two and that he was and still is the best of the former Shield.

He only lost because Dean had the upper hand, because he orchestrated a well-placed attack on a weakened champion. There was no honor in that, no respect. It was the best Dean could do though and Seth knew it. He knew the second he got his former brother alone in the ring that the outcome would be the same as it had always been.

So there was no need to fret about Dean stealing his title. He'd just get it back in less than 24 hours. Yeah, that was exactly what he was going to do. Nothing and no one was going to stand in the way.

"Easy there champ, you might break something."

Seth recognized the voice. It was the second to last person he had wanted to see that night, the one who actually could stand in his way of getting back what was once again rightfully his.

"But I guess I can't really call you champ anymore can I?" Roman added as he stood in the doorway.

Seth seethed as he looked up at him. "I'm more of a champ than you are! So tell me, what is _thee guy_ without _thee title_?"

Roman just nodded. "I guess we'll just have to find out. Oh and by the way, you're right."

"I'm right? About what?" Seth asked confused.

"About you being more of a champ than I am," Roman admitted. "Because you are and that's kind of why I decided to come here tonight. It was a hell of a match. You deserve your props."

Seth took a deep breath. "I did what I said I was going to do," he said nonchalantly. "I beat you fair and square. I regained what I never should have lost. And yeah, I won't take anything away from our match. It took everything I had to finally get you for the 1-2-3. I meant what I said about your title reign Roman. You really did earn it. But do you know who didn't earn a damn thing? Who's probably out all over Sin City celebrating like he's actually deserving of it when he's not?"

Roman sighed. He would have been an idiot not to know that when he walked in on Seth violently throwing his phone across the room that it had everything to do with their brother and the fact that he was now the WWE World Heavyweight champion, a title Seth once again, believed he was unfairly stripped of.

"And that man you're talking about," Roman began, "would he just so happen to be a certain someone who took it upon himself to get involved in the main event of Wrestlemania 31, a match he had no business being in, to win a title he didn't earn and probably didn't deserve? Is that who you're talking about?"

Instantly Seth frowned. "You know full well that what I did at Wrestlemania was completely different!" he argued as he stood up and got in Roman's face.

"If by different you mean the same, then yeah Seth, the two are totally different," Roman rolled his eyes.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Seth questioned angrily. "I cashed in during the match. My chances of winning were significantly less. I made it a triple threat. I didn't just demand a singles match less than a minute after my opponent had been put through hell. And besides, you weren't the champion when I cashed in. So really if you think about it, what I did was pretty damn honorable."

Roman couldn't help but laugh. "You're kidding right?"

"I'm not," Seth stood his ground.

"Okay fine," Roman said as he rubbed his chin. "Tell me though Seth, did you or did you not wait to cash in until both Lesnar and I were at our limit, until both of us had given each other enough Superman Punches and F5s to last a century, until Brock was literally bleeding and I could barely stand?"

Seth swallowed hard. "I mean,"

"And did you or did you not take full advantage of the opportunity that the Money in the Bank briefcase affords, doing something underhanded but yet totally allowed under the rules of the stipulation?" Roman continued.

"Yeah, but that's not the," Seth was interrupted again.

"And did you or did you not spend the rest of your miserable title reign telling anyone who would listen how you so smartly and so perfectly cashed in your briefcase and earned your world heavyweight title?" Roman asked, already knowing the answer.

"Now you're just putting words in my mouth," Seth tried.

"Actually, I'm putting your own words in your own mouth," Roman responded. "You see Seth; the fact of the matter is that Dean didn't do anything you wouldn't have done. In fact, he didn't do anything you haven't already done. And you can claim until your face is blue how different the two scenarios are, but you and I both know they aren't different at all. Well, there is a difference but it's only in the fact that this time you're on the other side. This time it was your turn to know exactly how I felt after Wrestlemania."

Seth thought about it and although he would never admit to Roman that he was right, the man did have a point. It was one thing when you were the guy with the briefcase, excitedly running down the ramp, knowing that in just a matter of seconds you were going to be the new champion, but being on the other side it sucked.

He knew just how much his heart plummeted and how much he wanted to vomit the second he saw Dean, less running down the ramp, and more standing and handing the briefcase to the referee. He knew just how much he wanted to grab his championship and run. Far away, anywhere but that ring. Because he knew the inevitability. Just in the same way he knew that he was about to defeat Roman for Brock Lesnar's championship, he knew that Dean was about to defeat him for his.

And it sucked, it really, truly sucked.

So maybe he did know how Roman felt but Seth still felt like he was in the right. He was only stealing Roman's opportunity, the possibility that he _might_ win the title. But nothing was certain. Dean on the other hand, was walking into a 99 percent certainty, all of the work already being done. He was stealing a championship that had already been won, creating a match where there was none.

Yeah, that made the cash-ins very, very different.

"Like I said, you beat me fair and square but everything Dean did was fair and square under the rules of the briefcase and you know that as well as anybody," Roman said after a few moments of silence. "So like it or not, but my brother, no, our brother is a champion in his first reign and if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go congratulate him and then make sure he knows I'm coming for my rematch."

"You're not getting yours until I get mine," Seth said simply. "Then, you can get your rematch but it will be against me."

Roman couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Seth demanded.

"You know, it's really something," Roman answered him.

Seth scoffed. "And what's that?"

"In just four years, the three of us have held all of the gold," Roman replied. "We've been tag champs, you and Dean have held the U.S. title, Dean had a run with the Intercontinental belt too, and all three of us have been WWE World Heavyweight champions, including all three of us being champions within the course of less than five minutes tonight. You and Dean have both held Money in the Bank. You cashed in on me, Dean cashed in on you. I won the title in a tournament that only needed to be held because you had to vacate the belt. And tonight, tonight you ended my third reign with the title and Dean ended your second, all while collecting his first. All of that Seth, all of those accomplishments, all of it so interconnected. I bet you never imagined when you hit me in the back with that steel chair how intertwined our careers would all still be at this point. How no matter what we can't seem to escape each other. How for two years, our paths always find a way to cross. You've fought Dean for the title, I've fought Dean for the title, and you and I have fought for the title. But there's one thing we haven't done yet. For all of the accomplishments, all of the moments, all of the main events, the three of us have never been in the ring together, fighting for that gold, one versus one versus one."

Again, Roman seemed to have a point. The three of them for good and for bad, were always going to be bonded by the Shield. And even Seth had to admit there were worse things in life. The Shield dominated and the platform it created for all of them after the fact, well, the gold spoke for itself. There were six reigns as world heavyweight champion, two as U.S., one as Intercontinental and one as tag team champs. Not to mention the briefcases held, the Royal Rumbles won, the Wrestlemanias main evented.

There was no denying the three had taken over WWE as the Shield but it was clear that they were continuing to take over the company even now. Seth was the man, Roman had been the guy, and Dean well, as Roman said, like it or not, but he was the champ.

Well, at least he was for now.

But in the meantime, Roman was right about one thing. The three of them had never had a triple threat match, title on the line. Not that Seth was particularly looking forward to it but now, it almost seemed inevitable. He was owed a rematch clause; Roman was owed a rematch clause. What was to stop Shane and Stephanie from deciding they'd both get their rematches at the same time?

Seth shook his head. Until he was told otherwise he was going to proceed as if he was the only one getting a rematch and that he was getting it Monday.

A so-called Shield triple threat might have been appealing to the legions and legions of fans that had followed the Hounds of Justice ever since they debuted at 2012's Survivor Series, but it was not on Seth's radar. Nope, not even a little.

"Hey Seth?" Roman again broke through his former brother's stream of consciousness.

"What?" Seth replied, notably less angry than he had been at the beginning of the conversation.

"He's no different than you and you're no different than the rest of us," Roman replied. "This business is all about opportunity Seth and I think it's fair to say that all of us have taken those opportunities in different ways. But at the end of the day, it doesn't make Dean any less of a champion than you were when you cashed in or when I was as a result of you having to vacate the title. We just took our opportunities and ran with them. And after all, wasn't that all you keep claiming you were doing when you broke up the Shield? Nothing personal, just business? Just making the most of an opportunity, even if you do go about it in kind of shitty way?"

Seth hated admitting, even to himself when Roman was right, but the man was on a roll tonight. Once again, he pegged the situation for what it was, even if Seth wasn't ready to confess that yet.

"Whatever," he responded, it being the best he could do.

Roman just smiled. It was like he knew. It was like he knew that Seth was eating up everything he said, attempting to discredit it in his mind and yet failing miserably. It was like Roman knew that Seth would have no choice but to accept the fact that the Architect was no better than the Big Dog was no better than the Lunatic Fringe.

"I'll see you around Rollins," Roman said with a smirk before he left Seth exactly as he had found him, alone and sulking.

Only this time, Seth wasn't of the mindset that he was any better or any more justified in what he did. He was just a guy who was learning first hand that being Mr. Money in the Bank wasn't as amazing as he remembered it.

And it sucked, it really sucked.

 **So yeah, how could I not write this given all of the Shield connections? My mind just wouldn't turn them off. And unlike Seth, I am among the legions and legions of fans that can't wait for the Shield triple threat. These three are magic together and getting to watch this develop over the next month or so is going to be amazing and oh so worth the wait. Not to mention, I have a feeling it's going to inspire quite a few more stories :)**

 **So, here's to the Age of Ambrose and Summer of the Shield!**


End file.
